The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) has dismissed allegations circulating on social media accusing its officers of unlawfully assaulting a man during a forest patrol in Elgeyo Marakwet County, terming the claims misleading and incomplete.
In a statement released on Monday, the agency said the incident in question involved the lawful arrest of a suspect allegedly engaged in illegal logging, who violently resisted officers, forcing them to act in self-defence before facilitating medical assistance.
KFS said online reports alleging that its officers assaulted Bernard Kiplagat Tarus, also known as “Kishoto”, at Yemit and Cheptongei forest stations on December 23, 2025, were false and failed to present the full context of the encounter.
According to the Service, the incident occurred a day earlier, on December 22, 2025, at about 10:54 a.m., within the Chepyemit Beat of Cheptongei Forest Station.
The matter was reported at Chepyemit Police Station under Occurrence Book number 12/22/12/25.
KFS said its officers were conducting a routine forest protection patrol when they encountered an adult male actively engaged in the illegal felling of indigenous trees inside a gazetted State forest.
The activity, the agency noted, was intended for charcoal production and constitutes an offence under Section 64 of the Forest Conservation and Management Act, 2016.
The agency said attempts to arrest the suspect were met with violent resistance.
“When officers attempted to effect a lawful arrest, the suspect violently resisted, armed himself with a panga, and attempted to attack a Forest Ranger,” the statement said.
KFS added that the ranger responded using reasonable force in lawful self-defence to neutralise what it described as an imminent threat.
According to the Service, any injuries sustained by the suspect were a direct result of his violent conduct.
KFS rejected claims that the man was assaulted or abandoned after the confrontation, saying officers took immediate steps to assist him.
“Contrary to claims circulating online, the suspect was neither assaulted nor abandoned,” the agency said, adding that officers facilitated his evacuation to Iten Teaching and Referral Hospital for treatment.
KFS said several tools were recovered at the scene, including a panga, an axe and a saw, which it described as illegal equipment preserved as evidence.
The suspect later identified himself as Bernard Kiplagat.
The service stressed that under Kenyan law, resisting or assaulting a public officer is a criminal offence. Citing Section 63 of the Penal Code, KFS said forest rangers are recognised public officers empowered to carry out lawful arrests within gazetted forest areas.
“The law does not permit violent resistance to arrest, and injuries arising from such resistance are attributable to the offender’s own unlawful conduct,” the Service said.
It defended its officers, noting they are mandated to protect public forest resources and are entitled to defend themselves when threatened.
KFS also warned against what it termed the misrepresentation of criminal acts, saying it would not allow its officers to be unfairly vilified through misinformation.
On accountability, the agency said investigations fall under the National Police Service and relevant oversight bodies, with whom it pledged full cooperation, while cautioning that “trial by social media undermines due process and the rule of law.”
The statement concluded by reaffirming KFS’s commitment to forest conservation, officer safety, and respect for the law and human rights in the execution of its mandate.
